It's Been A Terrible Flu Season

Good morning all,

A few years back I had made a reservation at a very nice restaurant where I was going to ask my now-wife to marry me. That afternoon, I started feeling very tired. Then the aching started. And the shivering. I refused to stay home but we did change our reservation to a more casual, nearby spot. By the time I asked her to marry me I was so delirious I could barely speak. It took about a week and a half before I felt something even resembling OK. I didn’t take a flu test, but the picture was very typical of what I see every day in the office.

Flu is a very nasty respiratory illness—it is not a stomach bug. While it can cause some stomach upset, that’s not the main symptom. Things we call “stomach flu” are caused by completely unrelated viruses. Like many infections, it’s hardest on the very young, the very old, and people with chronic health problems. The good news is that vaccination can help prevent flu deaths. The bad news is that we aren’t great about getting our shots.

We are seeing a very slow wind-down of one of the worse flu seasons in years. So far there have been about 151 kids killed by the flu in the US this season, and before you say, “hey, that’s not a lot!”, look at your own child, and picture every kid you’ve ever known—and imagine they are all gone. Every dead child is a tragedy. 

Vaccine rates in kids dropped this season, which probably contributed to the severity, but there are a lot of other factors as well. Vaccination, though, is something we can actually do to improve our chances of making it through the season.

Flu vaccines are tricky—they are still made in a pretty old-fashioned way, requiring chicken eggs for their production (and chicken eggs are becoming a bit scarce this year as you probably noticed). Because of the time it takes to manufacture them, we have to plan far ahead. Epidemiologists follow the flu virus around the globe and come up with a science-based prediction as to what strains the next season’s shot should contain. Experts meet early in the year well-before the next season—usually. This year’s expert meeting was cancelled by the current presidential administration. For next year’s shot we will have to rely on expert opinions from the WHO (an organization not beloved by our current president) and other country’s health experts, and hope that we get it right.

We are still seeing a lot of flu in Michigan and while a flu shot now can still be useful, it’s best to get your shot in the late summer or early fall (opinions differ a bit, but there’s probably a sweet spot somewhere in mid to late October). Flu shots are very, very safe. The flu is not. When next season’s shot comes out, and you think, “meh, it’s just flu, why bother?” look at your kid, look at your parent, and imagine them gone. Imagine the life you love that could have been saved. I know it’s early to talk about what to do next season (and I’ll remind you), but let’s not forget what a bad season we are still experiencing. Let’s use that knowledge to remind us next fall how important it is to get our flu shots.

Stay well.

-pal